Just Asking

Last night I knew what today would be like. I had an agenda all ready to go.

10 am   Bible Study
Noon    Pick up medals, ribbons, and trophies for the League Cross Country meet
12:30    Buy gifts for graduating Cross Country members
1:30      Help in daughter's classroom (optional)
3 pm     Start assignment for today's writing class

Best laid plans go awry. There is nothing wrong about messed up plans. In fact, I sort of like them because God always works in mysterious ways when we think we have everything figured out, sorted out, and under control.

To start off, I didn't leave right after Bible study. One of the women asked how I was doing and how my husband was doing. Her uncle, like my husband, is in prison as a sex offender. One thing led to another as we shared how the Lord was working in all our lives. Before I realized it, the clock read 1 pm. Oooops.

I head for my car and my phone rings. "Nana, can I bring some friends over to see the kittens--like at 4 o'clock?" My mind whirls for a split second. Problem number 1, there is no way I can run errands, get to school in time to help my daughter, then get home for my granddaughter and her friends. (Note to self--let daughter know I will come on Monday)

Problem number 2, my kitchen is in a mess, my bed is covered with clothes I had taken out of the dryer, but not folded, and I have piles of newspapers here and there. In addition, gift wrap, tape, and tissue paper cover my dining room table, the garbage can is overflowing, and the litter box needs changing. I am not ready for guests.

"Of course you can come over. See you around 4. Oh, and thanks for checking first."

At 1:15 I walk into the medal, trophy, ribbon shop to pick up the X Country stuff. The owner is waiting for the UPS guy to deliver the ribbons. OK, now what? I still have to buy the gifty-thingys, so I say I will come back on my way home. Maybe the ribbons will have arrived by then. As I turn to leave, in walks the UPS guy. I almost kiss him.

By 2 o'clock, my car and I are headed home. I thank the Lord for the UPS guy, the gifty-thingys I purchased, and the sunshine. All is well with the world. Twenty minutes later I drive in my driveway, check out the thick fog that has never burned off, then hit the door running.

An hour and 1/2 later I take a deep breath, plop into my chair, and fire up my laptop. The litter box is clean, a scented candle is burning close to it, papers are in the recycle bin, dining room table is cleared off, kitchen is spic and span, garbage is emptied, clothes are folded and put away, and I am ready for the visit of a couple girls (turned out to be four) who love kittens.

While I await their arrival, I rest my weary body and celebrate all I accomplished out of a sense of urgency. That is when the Lord worked in his mysterious way. My sense of urgency to get my house cleaned in a short period of time became this thought, Why don't I feel that same sense of urgency when I know the time is short until the Lord returns? And, the stakes are so much higher than having a clean house for teenage girls oohing and aahing over some adorable kittens.

That's what he asked me. Does he ever ask you the same question?

Jan, Licorice Kitty, and family

Licorice is already tuned into the sounds and rhythms of the household. She knows when the refrigerator door opens, and she knows when I walk into the utility room where her food dish and water bowl are. Those two things bring her running, tail straight up, and meowing a meow that says, "Feed me now." I don't even think there is a please in that demand.